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Skipping the hard bits?
What are your favourite bits of the Bible? Is it John 3:16, Philippians 4:6-7 or Psalm 23?
Perhaps
the bits of the bible we skip over or skim through say more about us
than the ones we come back to time and again. How about the hard bits
where we can’t really understand what God is saying, or the passages we
perceive to be boring? Harder still are those passages that we know we
need to be obedient to but we find it difficult to live up to. Do we
cherry pick the bits that fit our perception of God and how we would
like to live and see the others as irrelevant?
Take, for example, Jesus' words “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?”
It seems a tall order to obey when we feel got out or critisised, in these days when we are encouraged to be open with our feelings and “don’t get mad, get even”. However that is part of being in this upside down kingdom of God where Jesus’ way is so often counter to the way we might react naturally.
Jesus said “You have heard that it was said, do not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” How radical is that nowadays when women are often treated as sex objects and the number one use of the internet is for pornography? It is easy to think that Jesus spoke that to someone else and not look at what is going on inside of us, particularly men.
Looking at passages like these make us realise how far we fall short of Jesus’ standards, but the bible amongst us things is a mirror we can hold up to our faces to show us what we’re really like. 1 John 1 says: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
So “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God”, for “every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another — showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way". Perhaps even more so the tricky bits, the Old Testament, the minor prophets and Leviticus. Why not look at some of the bible you have neglected and ask God to speak.
You might be surprised by what He says.